System Requirements

You'll need a PC with at least 2.8Gbytes of free disk space, a CD or DVD drive, and running Windows 10 / 8 / 7 / Vista / XP. Either the 32 or 64 bit versions of any of these operating systems are supported. The search program & all of the data are installed on your hard drive, but the original CD is still needed in your CD/DVD drive each time you start the search program.

The NBI Third Edition is also capable of running on an Apple Mac computer using Apples Bootcamp, Microsoft Parallels or VMware's Fusion 4 Windows Emulation Packages. All the above require a licensed copy of Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7 to be mounted on the computer prior to loading up the NBI3 program.

The Viewer program

The data is accessed by a dedicated search program, an update from the 2nd Edition viewer. This has an improved system for retrieving surname variants. But you can also search using wildcards, or select a surname from a scrolling list of all the surnames that occur in the database.

Unlike previous editions the entire NBI (search program and data) is installed entirely on to your hard drive which allows each search to operate on the entire dataset, 1538-2008. This change from 4 CDs which were needed to view different historical periods has allowed us to pack the entire dataset on to a single CD. It is still necessary, however, to have the original CD in your drive when you start the program because the disk includes a copy-protection system to prevent unscrupulous copying - a problem in the past. The Viewer program includes facilities for printing the results from searches, and exporting to other applications via the clipboard or via an external file (comma-delimited, HTML and Gedcom are provided).

The Search screen with list of possible variants for a search on CUNNINGTON

The Results screen, with the Current Record dialogue showing James Cunnington, 1724

Public Access Usage

If a facility such as a library or record office wants to make NBI available for use by the general public, it is necessary to obtain a Public Access Licence.

FFHS Member Societies may use NBI within their research or library premises and for demonstration purposes without a Public Access Licence.

Licence Agreement

Some clauses from the NBI licence agreement which may be of interest to the user:

You may use the software and data on only one computer

You may print, photocopy or download portions of data for private research and study only. The data may be used and copied in this manner for relations and friends free of charge for non-commercial purposes.

You may not make any full copies of the software or data.

You may not publish or sell any portion of the software and data, in printed, electronic, or any other format, without prior written consent of the Licensors.

You may not loan, rent, sublicense, or transfer the software or data except to give this entire package to another party, in which case you may not keep any copies of the software or data for your own use.

To avoid doubt, the provisions of the licence agreement are not intended to prevent you recording any individual items of data, or disclosing any individual items of data, free of charge, to friends or relations for non-commercial purposes. Nor does it prevent printing, photocopying or downloading portions of data for private research or study.